Kitchen Month – My Spice Storage + FREE Spice Inventory Printable

Yesterday I talked about spice storage – I gave you a few ideas and challenged you to do a couple things to clean up your spice storage. Today I’m going to show you how I overhauled my spice storage. I switched two cabinets around and I’m so happy that I did because it really makes a difference with the efficiency in my kitchen. Here’s a before pic showing how I had my spices stored before (yes it’s organized, but it didn’t work the way I’d hope it would).

So I cleared out both of my cabinets – the corner cabinet and the one to the right (where I was keeping vitamins, tea, and some miscellaneous baking supplies)

First up, I rearranged the corner cabinet, moved some of the shelves up to accomodate the lazy susans. This is a great solution for us – meds and vitamins are easily accessible, tea and cocoa is right to the right of the mug cabinet, bulk spices are out of the way but still accessible, and my canning jars are at the ready but not in the way.

Once this cabinet was under control, I took on the spice cabinet.

I considered all of my/our cooking and baking needs and annoyances and figured out a way to get the space workable. First of all, I needed to be able to see everything. Secondly, quick access to the spices was key. I was getting tired of hopping on the counter or a stool to find the celery salt. And I wanted it to look clean and organized.

The Method?

Sort by baking and cooking – alphabetize and put away. I also separated my cooking herbs out by blends and plain herbs/spices to make it even easier to find the garlic salt.

Here’s a photo run-down on specifics:

What’s the best part? How easy it is to find everything – isn’t that the point of organizing? Finding a system that works!

A couple highlights?

I use canning jars for storing everything from baking soda to cupcake liners (this idea came from Mel at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe) – we bake a lot of muffins to it’s a pretty solution for storing those liners.

Did you spot that spice inventory on the door? I printed it on cardstock, cut it out, and laminated it. Then I simply attached it to the door with removable adhesive strips. Now when I am running low on a spice I just put a little check mark in the gray box. Then when I order my spices I just check the inventory and I know exactly what I need. It’s a great spice system!

So tell me? Does your spice cabinet need a little revamp? What’s your plan to make your spice cabinet work for you?

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Becky,
I have had the spice turn around thing but all that did was clutter my counter. I have done the cabinets but I still found I cannot see the names of the spices to find what I am looking for. So I use a pull out drawer in one of my lower cabinets, used my handy dandy label maker to label the tops of the jars and organized them tallest to shortest. I love it and it works for me. See my pictures here: http://casualfridays-laura.blogspot.com/2013/01/spice-organization.html

When we renovated our kitchen I had my spices arranged per your “after” view. I had to change it because with the tiered spices I had to constantly move the spices and I ended up knocking them over (and out) when I tried to get the spice I needed. I ended up putting them in bins where I could pull the bin out and get the spices I need. It may not seem efficient, but it doubled my space.

I loooooooooove my spice racks. I looked for years for just the perfect size, etc. and could never find it, then while shopping at a one of those kitchen shops during my annual trip with my sister to Williamsburg, Virginia, a couple of years ago, I found the perfect one! It was a bit pricey there at $39.99 for a carousel, so I only purchased one and planned to purchase one at a time until I had enough to hold all my spices and seasonings. Then I looked online for them to compare prices and voila, I found it one at http://www.smarthome.com/_/ProductResults.aspx?Ntt=Auto-Measure%20Spice%20Carousel. At the time, they were on sale for $21.88, so I purchased three more before the sale was over. They sell them there regularly for $35.99, but have sales often. I have a black/gray/beige mottled countertop, so I got the stainless steel and black color combination (they are thick plastic, not real stainless steel.) There is also a similar white carousel available, as well, at a bit less expensive regular price. Each carousel holds 12 spices, can stand alone or be towered with one or two others on the countertop or on shelves in your cabinets, or they can be individually mounted underneath your wall cabinet. Most people would probably need no more than the one, or at most two, but I have the 3 carousels in a tower for spices and herbs on my countertop and another carousel on a shelf in my cabinet for seasonings. These will dispense your powdered or ground spices or seasonings ¼ teaspoon at time from beneath the containers, and each also has a small shaker/pour opening and a larger opening for measuring spoons or to fill the container on the top. You can see two towered carousels at http://pinterest.com/pin/344173596492553014/

My spices are a mess! First off I buy in bulk so most systems that only hold 4 ounces just don’t work. Second I only have two cabinets that are 12 inches wide to fit them all in. So for now they reside in the basement and every time I need something I have to go downstairs and get them. Thankfully with my once-a-month cooking it’s not every day. I am only able to keep my most used spices out with the system I currently have. (It worked great in our last house) This is something I am working on but just can’t seem to find the right solution for my small kitchen. I just keep telling myself it’s good exercise.

Cindy, Penzey’s spices are unbelievable. I used to be a doubter too, thinking “basil is basil, how complicated could it be?” But then I gave it a shot and did a side by side smell/taste comparison between grocery store and Penzey’s. I was blown away. Never realized how potent or fragrant or delicious a spice could be. Nothing beats fresh, but fresh just doesn’t work most of the time for my life. They do sell small jars you can get to give it a shot! (And no, I don’t work for them and never have!)